Regrets
by SoularFlare
Summary: WallyKu, Kuki's taken by the Delightful Children...You could at least take a peek...


The air around them was quiet. No winds threw the golden sand about, no clouds meandered by to drop rain upon the boy and his older companion, and the sun shimmered vibrantly. It was the pretty perfect day to be swimming at this particular beach for the boy, but the stout, old man had an objective. The boy looked frustrated and impatient, as if trying to draw information from him, but not getting the answer he wanted directly.  
"_Numbuh Four?"_ a faint girl's voice filled his ears.  
_That's really odd,_ he thought. _There aren't any girls here,_ and he ignored it, turning his attention back to the old man.  
"You'll understand when you're older. Fate is unpredictable, my boy." the old man with tufts of hair around his ears said in his wheezy voice.  
"But you never told me what it was you should've done but never did!" what sounded like a younger version of the old, raspy voice came out of the boy with shaggy blonde hair that covered his eyes.  
"Yes that did get interrupted somewhat, didn't it?" he chuckled genially. "Well, I told you once before that I always regretted never asking her out..." he let out a long, wistful sigh.  
"_Numbuh Four?"_ the voice came a bit louder this time.  
_Again? I must be going crazy. Just ignore it. Maybe this time I'll get an answer!_ He shook his head and focused entirely on his gray-haired escort.  
"Yes, but who?" the boy asked impatiently, tapping his foot on the ground. "Who was it? Was it…" he slowly quieted as it dawned on him, as if he already knew the answer but didn't quite believe what he was hearing. "You don't mean…"  
"Aye. It was-"

"HEY NUMBUH FOUR!" and the shrill, girly call shattered his hopes for an answer to the question that had plagued him for many, many nights. He groaned, rubbing the sleep out of his heavy eyes.  
"Kuki, must you wake me up so early?"  
"Well, I need _some_one to play with," she said petulantly with wide, pouting eyes.  
He sighed, for he couldn't resist those eyes in any case, but was secretly happy she had chosen him to hang out with her over the others. Of course he'd never tell her that. It's not like he didn't have _time_ to.  
_I always regretted…_  
Words from the dream echoed in his head and he shook them out. "Come on, let's go." he hopped out of bed. "I'll get you some Cocoa Bunnies cereal." he pulled her hand and she skipped along excitedly.  
He sat her down at the table and rummaged around the cabinets, bringing her a large bowl of chocolate cereal and pouring the milk, taking care of her before getting his own humongous bowl of Auto-O's. She smiled, knowing full well that when the others awoke, the Sweet Wally would disappear till the next mission, or time they were alone, where she could relish in hearing her civilian name from his lips. They ate silently, glancing at each other occasionally and smiling.  
"So are you going to do anything today?" she asked cheerfully, breaking the quiet.  
"Eh, I dunno, maybe train a little. Gotta be ready to prote-uh, I mean, gotta be ready for those Delightful Dorks, y'know you never can tell when they'll attack next." he blushed slightly, but she took no notice of his Freudian slip of the tongue.

Some idle chatter continued till the others filed in, Numbuh One first, followed by Two, and Five soon after. Numbuh Three watched a bit disappointed as they came, wanting more time with the handsome blonde, but sighed and smiled, consoling herself with the fact that he was never that far away. She offered to make them pancakes and waffles, and they agreed enthusiastically, even Numbuh Four through a mouthful of cereal, for Kuki's waffles and pancakes were the best, always loaded with sugar and tons of syrup, and none of them could disagree with that. Numbuh Four watched her move about from behind his shaggy bangs as she hummed around the stove with a maternal look on her face and he smiled to himself.  
_Mine,_ he thought happily as she placed a stack of waffles next to his half-finished bowl of Auto-O's. _Or at least when we're older. We're only eleven after all._  
..._I always regretted…_

In the duration of breakfast the alarms sounded and they rushed to see the trouble, finding it to be the Delightful Children and their robot drones holding kids hostage at the candy store. Numbuh One gave the order and they were off, weapons in hand. They reached the scene in minutes, making the usual wisecracks and one-liners before getting down to business.  
"Numbuh Four, help me get these Goody-Goody Freaks under control. Numbuhs Five and Two, set the hostage children free and come back and help us knock these Delightful Dorks down a peg. Numbuh Three, help them by finding any other exits in the store that'll get the hostages out of here safe."  
"Wait, what? Numbuh One, shouldn't Ku-Numbuh Three and I save the kids, Numbuh Two secure the exits and you and Numbuh Five get rid of these punks?" Numbuh Four protested, hoping to keep an eye on the dark-eyed girl.  
Numbuh One saw this however, and answered with a biting tone; "Keep your personal feelings out of the way Numbuh Four, and do as I asked. Now go!" and with that, they scattered. Wally opened his mouth to oppose the command, but thought against it and leaped into the fray. Numbuh Two and Numbuh Five rushed to the frightened children and Numbuh Three scurried amidst laser beams and stomping metal feet to the back of the store, shooting down the robot androids in her path.  
"Careful Numbuh Three!" Wally warned from the front of the store as he and Numbuh One dodged attacks from the Delightful Children's giant robot android.  
The five children laughed from inside the humongous metal being. "How sweet," they said in perfect unison. "Worried about your _girlfriend_?" They slammed the robots iron fist into the ground, missing the blond fighter by mere inches as he darted backwards.  
"What!" he exclaimed indignantly. "Kuki is _not_ my girlfriend!"  
"Oh? Well then, you won't mind if we get rid of her first!" and they circled around and began pursuing the ebony haired girl.  
"Hey, get back here, leave her alone!" and he dashed after them.  
"Wait, Numbuh Four!" Numbuh One sighed. "Darn it! Can't get that girl out of his head for a minute. Numbuh Five, help me distract the Delightful Children, quickly!"  
"On it, Boss!" and the dark-skinned girl ran around to the front of the chasing metal beast and began firing her Jalapeno Laser.  
"Rebellious children are so frustrating," the droned as they swatted at her.  
Numbuh Five leapt out of the way and continued to fire, but the five Children continued their hunt of Numbuh Three, who was still checking for other ways out. They giant machine lashed out at the running girl, its many metal arms coming down from above and from the sides, trapping her where she couldn't escape. She screamed as the steel appendages swooped down upon her, but seconds before what would have been a very lethal blow, Numbuh Four bounded between the metal legs of the monstrosity and swept Kuki out of the way, landing a few feet away from a very large, smoking crevice. Visibly stunned from her rather close encounter with what would have been a very certain doom, Numbuh Three clung to her brave defender's orange sweatshirt tightly as she tried to catch her lost breath.  
"I thought I told you to be careful Kuki," he admonished gently, brushing the settling dust from her bangs.  
"I know. I'm sorry Wally, but I knew you'd protect me if I got in trouble." She smiled.

Numbuh Two finished setting the hostages free while the Delightful Children were distracted, and rushed with the other two to flank Three and Four. Setting the onyx-headed girl on her feet, Wally stomped forward and motioned to Numbuh One. "Numbuh One, I have an idea. Shoot those dangling lights above their heads to divert their attention. Numbuh Two and Numbuh Five, knock down that shelf of Jawbreakers and Gumballs behind us, but before you two do that, Kuki and I will pour those barrels of taffy on the floor behind them to stick them as they fall." He ordered, determined to play his way and keep his girl beside him this time. "Got it?"  
"Right!" was the general cry of consent.  
"All right, _now_!" and Numbuh One fired a few quick beams at the ceiling, causing the sparking fluorescent lights to crash down on the heads of the Delightful Children. Grabbing her hand, Numbuh Four whisked Numbuh Three out of the way and over to the four large barrels of pink, sticky taffy. They spilled two of the barrels and gave the signal to Numbuhs Two and Five, who kicked down the shelves of hard candies over their astonished enemy's heads. As they hit the ground, Kuki and Wally dumped the remaining containers of goop, fixing the giant android to the once shiny floor. Shorting out, the android died, and the five Delightful Children from Down the Lane crawled out, holding their heads.  
"You! Stupid! Girl!" They pointed to Numbuh Three, and Numbuh Four stepped in front of her protectively. "You ruined everything! Stupid, stupid, stupid! You'll pay for this later, Numbuh Three of the Kids Next Door!" and they fled. The Kids Next Door operatives cheered, but the blond boy's brow darkened slightly.  
_Nah,_ he thought, cooling down a bit. _They're too chicken to try anything too soon… I'll just have to be ready for them the next time._ And he followed the others home.

Notes

The Cocoa Bunnies and Auto-O's are two cereals created by me. Auto-O's were actually the name of my groups product in Business class last year when we studied the affects of marketing.  
Freud, The famous psychologist who believed that we are driven by unconscious or internal desires, and slips of the tongue weren't accidents or mistakes, but inner wants and needs. So our Wallabee merely wants to protect Kuki, you see?  
The glimmering: I used it for a synonym for blushing, glowing perhaps. She isn't sparkling like a light bulb if that's what you're thinking.  
If you're wondering about why the Delightful Children were mad at Kuki for "ruining everything", its because Numbuh Four saved her when they were so close to destroying her. They should really be mad at _Wally_, but since he cares for her so much, they think she's the problem.


End file.
